History was made last Saturday in the annals of Scrabble development in Nigeria when the first ever Mindgames Scrabble Premier League was held in Lagos.The Mindgames Scrabble Premier League is a fresh perspective introduced by Mindgames Incorporated to raise the sports to a professionally-organized level as obtained in other higher climes.
On Matchday 1, Team Braniacs took the lead on the table, edging out Team Supreme with a cummulative advantage of 325 points as both sides recorded nine wins and three losses after 12 Round of games.
Players from both teams also finished the first day of the league with 35 wins and 25 defeats after battling over 60 individual games to underline how competitive the league was.
Team Blazers are third while teams Hurricanes, Gracious Pickers, Olowoyeye Predators and Phoenix came fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. Airpoppers and Tekena Drones maintained the eighth and ninth position.
2015 World English Scrabble Players Association champion, (WESPA) Wellington Jighere who topped the individual score sheet with 10 wins and two defeats garnered a cumulative of 967 points in the process but, it was not enough as his team FRSC Roadies finished tenth.
Team Bulldozers and Lekki Bombers completed the list.
Players including one world champion, six African champions and several national champions were excited about the league.
Founder of MGI Lukemon Owolabi who was also a former World No. 9 said his desire is to create a well- organized competition capable of matching Nigeria’s high reputation as the best scrabble playing nation in the world.
“You know, we travel around the world for competitions and we have excelled competitively” he said, “but that environment where every supporter of Scrabble wants to see is lacking here which is what is needed to give a right support for our players, that’s why we feel this intervention is needed at this stage to grow the game of scrabble. “
A total prize of three million naira is on offer and the winner will get a top prize of one million naira.
Frontpage Couture, Airpop Foods and Pan Africanist Sports Agency have lend their backings to this laudable initiative.
The next leg of the MSPL holds in Abuja on May 18 while the other Matchdays will hold in Port Harcourt and Lagos on July 13 and September 14 and 15 respectively this year .